10 Years of Not Talking About…

The film adaptation of Fight Club was released 10 years ago today. It was a disappointment financially and then found critical and cult love in the years afterward. Some point to it as one of the pop cultural turning points that signal the death of the 20^th century. We had become bored by prosperity, complacent about security and peace, and indifferent to the luxuries that less fortunate countries would kill for. The push back against that could be found in the nihilistic desire for self destruction that made the novel so stunning and the film so utterly watchable.

In the post 9/11 world, it seems like condemnation of the cultural thought process that could provoke the attacks. We were fat, lazy, spoiled, and entitlement oozed out from every pore. Has that changed much? No, unfortunately. As opposed to changing our lives, we opted for color coordinated security threats, duct tape, and the overwhelming force of our young men and women in the armed forces to protect our right to not change.

But for those of us who have nothing, have a little, or are constantly told we need more, Fight Club offered a different suggestion. Do not build; destroy. It is in destruction that we find our true selves, not in the vein attempts at betterment. It was a modern day ‘A Modest Proposal’ against the overwhelming consumerism that had invaded our lives.

10 years later, the power of both the book and film still resonate. While the merits of the twist ending can be debated and embraced or dismissed, the strength of the story lies in the first half as a young man who feels trapped by doing the ‘right’ things with his life finds freedom in doing the ‘wrong’ thing. By allowing himself to tap into the violence, rage, and pain that we feel and swallow on a daily basis, Jack finds that he’s more alive than he allowed himself to be ever before. It’s a story about choice, about questioning what you’re learned, what you’ve been taught, and what you think you want in life. For those suffering from the post college malaise of trying to figure out what it means to be a man in a world that constantly urges us to suppress some of the darker aspects of what makes us men, Fight Club came on like revelation.

The film solidified for me Brad Pitt’s transformation from the pretty boy persona that made him famous into the interesting character actor he’s become. Ed Norton has never had a better role in his life. And this is my absolute favorite David Fincher film. I love this movie. It’s one of the movies that make me want to make movies. I haven’t seen it in its entirety in a few years, but I could probably quote you full scenes. This is in large part thanks to the author of the novel, Chuck Palahniuk.

I went through a huge Palahniuk phase. His phrasing and style hooked me and certainly influenced my style (down to straight out theft of style in the year following reading Fight Club for the first time). To me, Survivor is his best novel. Part of me hopes that they never make that into a movie. Part of me hopes that if they do, I get a chance at adapting the script. Part of me doesn’t want to touch it and only wants to watch it unfold before me like the novel did.

The point of this all is to honor a story, a film, its creators and artists because as an artist, as an American, as a man it has influenced me to a large degree. Happy 10^th Fight Club!

Prepare to evacuate soul.